Email Author Tom Murphy

2009 Stories by Tom Murphy

• Dan Kaufman Superstar Eruption at Meadowlark

  published August 13, 2009

  Dan Kaufman is the musical equivalent of Colonel Kurtz, in that he seeks to awaken his audiences to their authentic selves. With the... More >>

• Drunkdriver

  published August 6, 2009

  Anyone trying to make challenging music that pushes the boundaries of what can still be considered music is going to have to do more than just... More >>

• Gomez

  published August 6, 2009

  Gomez has always been something of an anomaly in the world of non-mainstream music — partly because its layered pop songs are immediately... More >>

• Snake Rattle Rattle Snake at the Meadowlark

  published August 6, 2009

  Whether on the world stage or local stages, having been in a moderately popular band can have its disadvantages. Some will immediately discount... More >>

• Last Night: Elizabeth & the Catapult and Greg Laswell at the Walnut Room

  published Jul 29, 2009

  Elizabeth & The Catapult and Greg Laswell Tuesday, July 28, 2009 Walnut Room Better Than: A show with similarly-minded music performed by a bunch of stiffs. For various reasons I don't often find... More >>

• Yawn Tron

  published July 30, 2009

  The title track of this album is an opening salvo that sets the pace for a collection of songs that make you wonder how this outfit can call... More >>

• The Donkeys

  published July 30, 2009

  With so many bands using the musical equivalent of Mr. Peabody's Waybac Machine, San Diego's Donkeys are hardly alone in terms of looking to... More >>

• Hot Buttered Rum

  published July 30, 2009

  Having formed during a backpacking trip on the John Muir Trail, San Francisco's Hot Buttered Rum is, on the surface, pretty much the embodiment... More >>

• Ode to the Marionette at the Meadowlark

  published July 30, 2009

  Owing a clear artistic debt to the smoky atmospheres and muscular rhythms of Portishead, Ode to the Marionette performs the kind of... More >>

• Q&A with Elizabeth Zilman of Elizabeth & the Catapult

  published Jul 28, 2009

  Elizabeth & the Catapult is a Brooklyn-based trio playing the kind of jazz-inflected pop music that is simultaneously soothing and thought provoking. The act's debut album, Tall Children, bears fa... More >>

• Last Night: Tori Amos at the Paramount

  published Jul 22, 2009

  Tori Amos and eskimOTuesday, July 21, 2009Paramount TheatreBetter Than: The last time I saw Tori Amos at Red Rocks in 1998.London-based One eskimO opened the show, and at first, I was concerned it mig... More >>

• Time at the Rex Lounge

  published July 23, 2009

  Among the most literate of hip-hop artists, Chris Steele, aka Time, is a seemingly endless wellspring of clever turns of phrase and... More >>

• Sarah Slater, brainmother of Titwrench Fest, discusses her female-centric music fest

  published July 23, 2009

  Unless you're tuning in to some kind of specialty show, the number of female voices, literally and otherwise, that you'll hear on the radio or... More >>

• Candy Claws

  published July 23, 2009

  Written as a musical companion to Rachel Carson's 1951 classic on marine biology, The Sea Around Us, this latest full-length from Fort... More >>

• Boris Garcia

  published July 23, 2009

  Although technically part of the whole jam-band phenomenon that has come in the wake of the cult of the Grateful Dead, Philadelphia's Boris... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Mile High Music Festival Q&A: The Duke Spirit

  published Jul 17, 2009

  Forming in London in 2003, the Duke Spirit has evolved a sound that brings together elements of garage rock, soul, the blues and swirly, noisy atmospheric rock. Rather than sounding like's trying to d... More >>

• Burn Heavy/Kingdom of Magic

  published July 16, 2009

  The Burn Heavy side of this record sounds like Sleep filtered through a doom/grind lens and blended with psychedelic swirls. The prominence of... More >>

• Forest World

  published July 16, 2009

  Just as punk rock embraced the stripped-down, authentic aesthetic of rock and roll from a bygone era, the current wave of electronic-pop... More >>

• Dr. Eugene Chadbourne

  published July 16, 2009

  Dr. Eugene Chadbourne is one of those genius avant-garde musicians that most people don't readily recognize despite his long career and... More >>

• Motel Saints at the Meadowlark

  published July 16, 2009

  Initially, Motel Saints can sound a bit too familiar. But pinpointing the source of that musical déjà vu is difficult, and then... More >>

• Last Night's Show: Lazy Lester at Boulder Outlook Hotel

  published Jul 10, 2009

  Lazy LesterThursday, July 9, 2009Boulder Outlook Hotel, BoulderBetter Than: The canned blues playing over the PA between sets -- by a long sight.Admittedly, when I first heard about this show coming u... More >>

• Postmodern Troll

  published July 9, 2009

  With analog synths blending in with the most cutting-edge sounds these days, this album sounds like it could have come out at any time... More >>

• Dark Lingo

  published July 9, 2009

  Although there have been bass-and-drum duos before, Pittsburgh's Dark Lingo takes that basic formula and twists it into compellingly... More >>

• Ghost to Falco

  published July 9, 2009

  Eric Crespo is at the epicenter of the sonic force known as Ghost to Falco. There's an eerie timelessness to Crespo's voice, whether he's... More >>

• Dethbox at Blast-O-Mat

  published July 9, 2009

  Waves of hardcore have come and gone since the salad days of the early '80s. With few genuine musical outlets for angst and rampaging energy... More >>